Al Ain: A research team from the Emirates Center for Mobility Research at UAE university demonstrated the latest updates of the "Smart Roads Project" that was launched by the center recently, in the presence of Prof. Ghaleb Ali Al Hadrami Al Breiki - Vice Chancellor, Dr. Hamad Al Jassmi - Director of the Center, and Ms. Naglaa Al Kaabi - Director of Digitization and Emerging Services Department at du Telecommunications. The "Smart Roads Project" is part of the overarching research initiatives adopted by UAE University to gear up for the fourth industrial revolution where a sustainable and efficient transport system is foreseen.

Ms. Naglaa Al Kaabi - Director of Smart Digitization and Emerging Services Department at du Telecommunications, said, ”The joint work between UAE University and Du Telecommunications is driven by the objective of enhancing the services and capabilities of high-speed communications -5G- at the campus, and we are looking forward into further deploying the applications, services and technologies of the high-speed network for multiple use cases, especially in research related to smart roads and self-driving vehicles industry”.

Dr. Hamad Al Jassmi, Director of the Emirates Center for Mobility Research, stated, “We thank the research center’s team for the creative and innovative efforts in creating the research infrastructure needed for smart roads and autonomous-driving technologies, and we are working to enhance the role of the Emirates Center for Mobility Research to become a hub for all strategic partners, experts and researchers working in the field locally and internationally, aside with companies interested in smart roads and autonomous driving technologies, to develop a common and sustainable vision for the transport and communications industry in the country, in cooperation with government and private companies, institutions, and entities, to develop smart city projects, and utilize the latest technologies to promote the strategic vision that supports sustainable mobility with smart and innovative technologies in the era of the Industry 4.0”. He pointed out: “Today we have completed the prototypes of the smart tower, and the smart golf cart, which were successfully deployed at UAEU campus. The support of Du to provide the 5G communication technology, in which the autonomous vehicle was successfully able to communicate with the smart towers to increase its perception in the campus, is highly appreciated. We also thank the UAE University administration and Sandooq Al Watan for their generous support in funding the “Smart Roads” projects”.

Dr. Manzur Khan - Project Manager of the Smart Road at UAE University, and Head of Connected and Autonomous Mobility Research Group at Emirates Center for Mobility Research - gave a presentation on the remarkable progress of the Smart Roads project, and said, "The UAE University campus represents a perfect environment that allows to create various use cases and tackle challenges that helps in testing and developing autonomous vehicles and smart road technologies”. He also showed the prototype of the Smart Road components and its diverse technologies and highlighted the continuous development of modern technologies for solutions of the Smart Roads Initiative.